


Missing Link

by MissChioga



Series: Never Let Go [3]
Category: Four Brothers (2005)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-08
Updated: 2013-02-08
Packaged: 2017-11-28 15:47:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/676123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissChioga/pseuds/MissChioga





	Missing Link

Being home after so long of being in the service was a little…uncomfortable. The light on the porch was off when the cab pulled in front of the house, which was strange, Ma never turned the light to the porch off, she said that it was meant to be a beacon to all of her sons no matter where they were. She was constantly trying to make all of us realize that we always had a home with her…and I think that was what drove Bobby, Jack, and me away. Even after years of being told that we had a home and a family, we didn't know how to deal with that, didn't truly believe it and so we all left as soon as possible so that maybe, just maybe, it would help us understand.

I understood now though. Understood why I should have come home sooner when Ma had called me to see if I would come home for Thanksgiving, understood why I never should have joined the Marines…I should have just married Sofi and stayed here, been more like Jerry instead of following in Bobby's footsteps.

It was cold outside, and I found that I no longer had a key to the house. The only thing I could do was sit outside in the cold and hope that my brothers would come after the service. I wanted to know who the fuck had had the balls to do this to our mom. Wanted to know why they had killed her. Maybe it was just me, but there was something wrong about how she was murdered, something wrong with why they had shot her when they could have just taken the money and run. Ma wouldn't have fought back, she was a tough woman, she could make Bobby cry, but she wasn't stupid…she knew that if Bobby or I weren't there then she should just do what they say. In those types of situations, you just make yourself as invisible as possible.

Sighing, I walked to the corner of the screened in porch, sitting on the plastic chair, and looking at the wall in front of me. I could remember when Jack would sit out here and smoke before Bobby and Ma got home, trying to get a quick nicotine fix before the two people he was worried about disappointed got home and see what he was doing. I could remember coming here for the first time and sitting in the exact same spot, watching Bobby play hockey against the younger Lt. Green. I could remember when Ma had told me that I was getting adopted, she had sat me down in this very seat and told me that I didn't have to steal anything from her anymore because I didn't need to worry about having enough money if I needed to run away from a foster home. That same moment she said that she would allow Bobby and Jerry kick my ass if she ever caught me doing it again.

God, I loved that woman. The toughness that she had was amazing, the fact that she could tame Bobby, help Jack, and fix me was amazing. She'd never had much problem with Jerry, they were more alike than the rest of us. They were both level headed, and they didn't resort to illegal or frowned upon methods to help ourselves forget whatever had happened to us in the past. She'd known about of course, known about Jack's self harm and drug addictions, about Bobby's beatings when someone messed with his family, about my hustling. She didn't allow us to lie about it, if we ended up in jail because of something we did…we had to come clean with everything and if she thought we hadn't told her everything then she would push us until we did fully tell her everything.

If there was one thing that woman would not stand for it was being lied to. And if she found out we'd lied to her…well, let's just hope that it was the only time that month that you'd done that. She could make even a fucking psychopath guilty, and that was saying something. One look from her and anyone was putty in her hands…add the fact that the four of us all felt as if we owed her everything and we were totally screwed when we knew that she was disappointed in one of us. We didn't feel better until we'd made everything right, and even then we still felt guilty.

I sighed and looked outside of the porch screen as two cars pulled up in the driveway and three doors slammed shut. Glad that I hadn't turned on the porch light, I stayed in the darkness, now to tired and cold to do anything other than that as I listened to Jack and Bobby speaking.

"Fucker." Jack laughed and everyone was on the porch now.

I decided to take this as my queue, "Ya'll ain't right leaving me in the cold like this."

"Hey little brother; you asshole." The light turned on and I blinked standing up to hug my brothers, "where the hell were you?"

"I missed my flight."

"Yeah? You missed our mother's funeral too."

I hugged Jerry and then moved to Jack, "Hey you finally shaved off your afro?"

I laughed, "I missed you little brother."

"Hey, did you get your teeth whitened?" Jack leaned down, looking at my teeth and I shook my head, he hadn't changed a bit.

"Man, shut up Jackie-Poo."

We walked inside, the hellos over with, and all fell silent, looking around at the house that still looked the same as it had when I had joined the Marines all those years ago. It still had that 70's feel…still had the warm feeling that Evelyn Mercer had always given it when she were alive. But I knew that after a couple more weeks, that safe feeling wouldn't be there anymore, and I could only hope that Bobby's plan of revenge would finish before the warmth left. I didn't want to be here when that happened.

I looked around the living room and shook my head, looking in the direction of the kitchen, hoping that Jack wouldn't go in there immediately like he used to when he was a teenager and mom would ask him to help her cook.

"I'm gonna get something to eat. Ya'll hungry?"

When everyone shook their head, I left for the kitchen, opening the fridge as Bobby spoke, telling Jack and me to take our own rooms while he stayed in ma's. I made a sandwich quickly and then retreated up to my old room, taking in the military net and the women posing provocatively on the wall by my bed. It was dark in the room, and instead of turning the light on, I turned on the spinning globe that Jack had gotten me for my birthday the first year he had been with us, the colors drifting over my walls as I turned the CD player on, drowning out Jack's guitar in the next room.

I leaned back, looking up at the net, trying to sort out my thoughts. Everything was wrong. Evelyn wasn't supposed to have died…at least not in some robbery. She shouldn't have gone with me telling her that I wasn't going to get time off from the base to come home for Thanksgiving. I could have gotten time off; I just didn't want to return home where so many things had haunted me before. I didn't want to come back here and see where our whole family began.

We all loved each other like brothers, and we would never let that go…but when we were all grown up and had had other plans and places to live we all left immediately. Because even after so many years of being safe and with Evelyn; we were still so scared that the safety would go away.

And…now it had gone away, just like we'd all feared.

The song ended and I stood up, stopping the CD before it could continue, deciding to go somewhere where I could take my mind off of everything that had happened. I needed a hot ass and I knew exactly where to get it. Sofi had always said she didn't want to leave Detroit.

I walked out of the room, pulling my hat on and tried to walk past Jack's room to the stairs before I found Jerry leaning into Jack's doorframe and Jack and Bobby sitting in the room, Bobby leaning against the bed frame and Jack laying on the bed, his overly long legs dangerously close to hanging off of his old bed.

"Where are you going?" Jerry spoke, looking at me with that annoying look on his face as I shrugged.

"It's a little heavy in here, I'm just gonna go outside and get a little air."

Jerry and Bobby laughed, "You're full of shit, man. You can smell that ass from down the street, huh?"

Of course I could smell that ass from down the street, both Sofi wasn't just a piece of ass…she was the only girl that I'd kept on with while in Detroit. But I decided to play dumb and not give Bobby the satisfaction.

"What're you talkin' about man?" Being a hustler had really paid off because I was actually quite well at this whole acting pissed off thing.

"She's got a boyfriend."

So the fuck what?

"She's got a boyfriend, she's got hard dick in her right now. She's screaming someone else's name and the last thing she's doing is thinking about your black ass." Bobby laughed, causing Jack to join in, his deep laugh causing me to roll my eyes.

"Look, I said that I'm not going to see this girl, and I'm not."

I huffed and walked down the stairs, going to the front door and walking out, slamming the door shut. Fuck those guys, I was getting Sofi right now, no matter what the hell they thought about it.


End file.
